1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for treating tuberculosis in animals, including mammals such as humans.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tuberculosis is a chronic, infectious disease that is caused by infection with tubercle bacilli belonging to the Mycobacterium genus. The infection may be asymptomatic for a period of time, but the most common manifestations include chronic inflammation of the lungs resulting in fever and respiratory symptoms. If left untreated, significant morbidity and death can occur. Tuberculosis strikes people of all ages but is more common among the elderly and immunosuppressed individuals. The disease can afflict animals, including humans, and livestock such as cattle, hogs, and poultry. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the most common cause of human tuberculosis, but a number of cases are due to Mycobacterium bovis. Animal tuberculosis in industrialized countries is controlled with milk pasteurization; as a result, such actions drastically reduce the incidence of disease caused by M. bovis in both cattle and humans. On the other hand, developing countries do not implement control measures consistently and pasteurization is rarely practiced.
Methods of prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment have greatly reduced both the number of people who contract the disease and the number of people who die from it. Known therapies in the art include isoniazid (isonicotinic acid hydrazide), rifampicin pyrazinamide (PZA), kanamycin, ethambutol, streptomycin, capreomicin, amicacin and cycloserine. Isoniazid is still a front-line therapy against tuberculosis and modern short-course chemotherapy is initiated with three drugs: isoniazid, rifampicin and PZA. Although tuberculosis can generally be controlled using extended antibiotic therapy, this treatment is usually an insufficient method for prevention of the spread of the disease.
Although certain chemotherapy and vaccine protocols have become available for the treatment of tuberculosis, the disease continues to claim more lives per year than any other infectious disease. There remains a need in the art for improvements in the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.